On Wed, 23 Apr 1997, Anthony Woo wrote:

I did see _one_ Ryoga/Shampoo match.  I was unimpressed (Shampoo drank
some potion that made her search after the one she was supposed to be with
(she was searching for Ranma) and found Ryoga.)  The authors gave no
explanation, and no follow up.  I think that soured me on the
Shampoo-Ryoga pair (The authors even criticized other fanfic writers for
creating matches that made no sense!) (This was the Omega Series, on
someone's web page--sorry, after I saw that story I destroyed every record
I had of it.) but if someone could do a belivable Shampoo-Ryoga match I'd
be pleased (I'd do it but I really don't have any idea of where to start.)

Thanx for listening to me rant and rave.

Hmmh, no ideas huh?  Well, let me give it a shot.

Okay, first you need a way to get them together.
Well, here's some ideas for that:
Ryoga can be a fairly noble guy and Mousse can be quite the jerk sometimes
(I'd go further but I'll leave it at that).  Have one of the infamous
Mousse challenges Shampoo plots but instead of the usual stupid thing of
having her fall for the guy upon losing go with the she still can't stand
him stuff.  Of course Mousse being the emotionally blinded person he is
either (to be nice)misiterprets this or (to be mean)doesn't give a damn.
Ryoga can step in to free Shampoo from Mousse but in the process fails to
realize that means he ends up with Shampoo.
Another, something like Purple Haired Destiny, where Shampoo is in a
massive state of depression (over losing her amazonhood, or losing Ranma,
or losing to Mousse, etc) and Ryoga finds her.  To get things further
along Shampoo may be so depressed she refuses to lead him to Nerima so
they end up thoroughly lost someplace.
Another, have them join together in a plan to get they respective
love interests.
Another, can you imagine how mad Akane will be when she finds out about
P-chan?  Now, if Shampoo happens to be in the vicinity she's yet another
target for a bit of angry venting.  Have them shipped off to god knows
where together after the little explosion.  Matter of fact, Shampoo might
even be the cause of Ryoga being found out which would really make it
interesting.

Okay that gets them together.  From there it is time to develop the
relationship.  That's mostly personal writing but realizing that Ryoga
and Shampoo complement each other in very interesting ways (Ryoga seems
more honourable while she's usually more upbeat and open) you can
probably build it as a relationship of mutual improvement. 

Hope that's a help to anyone who wants it.

Wade